Sourblood
by Already June
Summary: The Pureblood families are closely related to each other, but after wars limit their numbers, some nasty recessive genes become too common for comfort. How does Lucius react when he discovers Scorpius' great pure blood isn't so perfect or superior?
1. When Good Blood Spoils

**Chapter 1: When Good Blood Spoils**

Life could have been a lot worse for Lucius Malfoy. He could have been rotting away in Azkaban for the rest of his life after what he had done during the war. Fortunately though he had been saved by his wife's betrayal at the end of the war and the testimony of Harry Potter.

Yet, Lucius felt as if his current life couldn't really be much worse at the moment.

But back in the day things were great. A few years after the trials of his family, his son Draco began to get over the trauma that had almost landed him in a mental institution, and settled down with a lovely Pureblooded girl. Lucius had managed to socially recover somewhat and found himself a cozy little job in the Department of British Magical History alongside his somewhat distant cousin Octavius Greengrass. Back then Octavius was also happy with his life, both because his Pureblooded family survived the war with their reputation intact and because his little Astoria was marrying Draco.

Back at the start, neither of them ever thought that there would be any problems with Draco and Astoria marrying. They were what, third cousins once removed? It's not like they were directly related to each other. Back then it never occurred to Lucius or anyone else that a marriage between two descendants of the Malfoy bloodline would tear apart the whole family.

He grunted at Octavius as he sat down at his desk in the office they usually shared with another old Sourblood within the recently renamed Department of British Magical Genealogy.

Of course, he would never call anyone but himself and Octavius a 'Sourblood' (or "Spoilblood") out loud. The word was starting to take on a really nasty meaning; the new 'Mudblood' almost. He did however find the term fitting for his own family; His bloodline was as pure as ever, but like milk, it had been left out too long and gone sour. And now his life was empty despite his freedom.

"Morning Lucius" Octavius said "How's your research going?"

"Very well thanks Octavius" Lucius replied "How was your weekend with Daphne? With her fiancé's family?"

"Oh... I managed to surprise Daphne by not offending any of the precious muggles" He said "But those bloody contraptions of theirs were a nightmare to work out. Oh I miss the days when it wasn't considered a good thing to 'freshen the blood' by marrying those mud... Muggleborns."

"It's not all bad." Lucius said "I doubt the Creeveys have any of the bad Pureblood genes. Daphne is as far away from inbreeding as she can get."

Muggleborns had once been the biggest threat to blood purity; but a few generations of all the Pureblood families being closely interrelated had brought about an even worse threat.

Draco and Astoria never really gave much thought to their own pedigree when they married. They were both Purebloods, but they would have still ended up together if that wasn't the case. Astoria had lost her right arm during the Battle of Hogwarts – probably due to a Death Eater's spell – and Draco had become disillusioned with the whole notion of blood purity after his part in the war. They met while Draco was working as a defense lawyer for Zabini's Prosthetics and Artificial Limbs, and married not really caring that they were both descendants of the noble Malfoy family. And they certainly didn't know that they both carried a rare gene that would ruin everything.

Though to be fair, not everything wrong with Lucius' life had been caused by that faulty gene. Narcissa had never quite recovered after the war, so Aquila and Scorpius weren't the only reason for her suicide. And maybe he had brought it upon himself when Draco turned around and disowned _him_.

"I wish Astoria would just get that operation for Scorpius" Octavius said, repeating the same line he said everytime someone mentioned his eldest daughter was marring a Mud- erm, Muggleborn. "If people could see that Scorpius' condition isn't incurable, then no-one would worry about us carrying bad genes. Daphne could have any Pureblood man she wanted."

Poor Octavius was in some serious denial. Being a bit less personally involved, Lucius could take a more objective look on the relationship between Daphne and Dennis Creevey, and he had a feeling that Daphne would be marrying the small Muggleborn no matter what. But of course, if Octavius could sleep better by telling people that his daughter was only marrying a Muggleborn to "freshesn up the blood", then Lucius was happy to smile and nod during these rants. Even if Octavius' rants about bad genes had gotten him disowned too.

"Did Daphne say anything about Astoria and Draco?" Lucius asked. Niether him nor Octavius had heard from the couple in well over two years. However Octavius sometimes found out things through Daphne and his ex-wife.

"She just says that I'm missing out on important things and need to apologise to Astoria" Octavius said "you know her; she'll do anything for her little sister. Even keep Dad in the dark. And don't ask about Belladonna; you know she's more likely to tell _you_ anything that goes on with those two than me."

"Very well" Lucius said.

"Don't worry Lucius. They'll be at Daphne's wedding, and we'll be there too. We'll get to see them there."

The two of them somberly started to get on with their work, but were soon interrupted by the door swinging open and their boss Roland Runcorn strolling into their office with a scroll of parchment in one hand and a smug grin on his face.

"Good morning Rolly" Lucius said. He allowed himself a small grin at the swift look of displeasure Runcorn shot him. The younger man hated that nickname.

"Ah Mr. Malfoy" Runcorn said "So sharp and eager so early in the morning. Could you do me a favour and deliver this?" He dropped the scroll on Lucius's desk with a smile.

"Don't you have an assistant to do that?" Octavius said.

"Yes, but it's to the Department of Disability Assistance" Runcorn explained "These been a bit of friction between our too departments, so I thought Mr. Malfoy here might have a better chance of actually getting through the door. By the way Mr. Greengrass, congratulations, I hear you'll be welcoming a fine young Muggleborn into the family soon. "

Octavius gave a disgruntled 'hmpf' and then his mouth fell open as the penny dropped. Lucius could feel his world stop.

"Oh" Lucius said "you want me to take this scroll to Draco."

"Yes, I heard you hadn't had a chance to speak to your son in a while" Runcorn said "Why don't you go and talk some sense into him."

"Talk sense?"

"His trying to block the Child Restriction on Genetically Unsuitable Parents Decree" Runcorn said "no suprise there considering his family."

Lucius grabbed the scroll, and headed for the door, biting down on his lip in an attempt not to punch Runcorn in the face.

"Speaking of family..." Lucius turned and spoke to his boss "how is your brother holding up in Azkaban? He only has a few months left of his sentance right? It's so unfair that they imprisoned the Ministry Officals during the war for just doing their jobs."

Lucius didn't slam the door - that would have been childish - but he had to supress a chuckle over the look of pure rage Runcorn shot him as he stepped out.

Lucius put some distance between his office before reading the scroll he was to give to Draco. He was not particularly worried about losing his job; he had plenty of money to retire on, and he was getting sick of the changing focus of his Department anyway. What used to be documenting the history of British magic and families had become a search through records and family trees to find any couple that could potentially pass on defective genes. The only reason he kept working was because he didn't like the idea of spending all day in his mansion all alone.

He almost stormed back to Runcorn to dramatically quit once he read what was in the scroll. Draco would not be happy with this news. Lucius wondered if Runcorn had stationed an assistant near Draco's office to report back on the inevitable fight that was bound to happen.

Well, Lucius Malfoy was never one to let other people beat him. And maybe, maybe he could use this to his advantage. Draco would not be happy with this news, and he would not be happy to see his estranged father deliver it, but this was the first excuse he had had in ages to talk to Draco. Yes, he could use this. He could tell Draco how angry he was at his job and the new policies. He could quit his job and invite Draco and his family to the manor for visits. He could see Scorpius again.

Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy.

His grandson. A sufferer of the rare genetic defect known as Fetal Brain Magic Misfiring Syndrome – oftern shortened to just Magic Misfiring Syndrome or MMS. This little understood condition causes a growing fetus' own developing magic to become overactive in the brain; causing brain cells to become deformed and die - or sometimes explode - before birth.

He had first heard the term when talk of the inbreeding problem began, but dismissed it. Dismissed it until that rainy day six years ago when Draco handed him little Aquila.

Aquila Belladonna Malfoy.

Lucius's granddaughter had been born with most of her brain damaged by an explosive misfire, but he could have sworn she looked straight at him when he held her. She was beautiful despite her mishaped skull, and Lucius knew that he would love her forever.

Draco had hugged him and cried on his shoulder for an hour when he realised that he would not be bringing her home from the hospital. Eight days she had lived. Eight days for her to teach the Malfoys that love was unconditional.

The healer had explained that Aquila's condition was caused by a rare recessive gene; both Draco and Astoria had to be carriers for Aquila to have been affected by it. The odds of two random parents both carrying this rare gene were astronomical; but like most Pureblood couples, Draco and Astoria weren't just two random unrelated people. That was when Lucius learnt that his family were Sourbloods; logic dictates that the gene that killed Aquila must have been passed along in both the Malfoy and Greengrass line; something Lucius's Great-grandfather had shared with the descendants of both his son and his daughter.

Still, no-one refered to the Malfoy's as Sourbloods after Aquila's death. Not many people actually knew that Draco had lost his daughter to a genetic disorder. It was only after Scorpius came along that things changed.

Lucius saw the elevator ahead of him about to close. He called out to the group of busy looking witches who had just stepped into it. One put a hand out to stop the doors, but pulled it back once she recognized Lucius. The door slammed shut in his face.

Oh yes, things changed after Scorpius was born. Before then it was only the Muggleborns and Blood-Traitors that would have let the elevator close on him.

The healers had also warned Draco and Astoria that any child they had would have a one-in-four chance of inheriting MMS. Yet they chose to risk the odds again, and two years after burying Aquila, Scorpius was born. This time, Draco was able to bring his child home from the hospital alive. At first everything seemed perfect; it was only later that the damage to Scorpius' dorsal and ventral streams was diagnosed. He was spared his life, but forever robbed of his sight.

Lucius found another elevator and rode up by himself, heading to the floor where Draco worked in his newly formed Department of Disability Assistance.

He pulled the locket he wore around his neck out from under his collar. It looked like a very simple piece; silver with minimal engraving done to pretty it up. He opened it, and smiled as the faces of his two grandchildren looked back at him. The photo of Scorpius was the last one Lucius had taken of him before being expelled from his life; Scorpius had the pale blond hair and white complextion of Draco, but his eyes were deep brown like his mother's. Like his mother's, except of course those blind eyes never focused on anything, where as Astoria's eyes looked as if they could see right into a person's soul.

The door opened and Lucius put away his locket and stepped out of the elevator. He paid little attention to his surroundings, but just let his feet guide him to Draco's office. He knew where it was of course; he had walked to the door of Draco's office oftern during the five months it had existed, hoping to talk to Draco and fix the past. Each time he had walked away without seeing his son. His nerve just failed him everytime he got close to confronting Draco.

He tried to plan out how he would worm his way back into Draco's good graces, but for the first time in his life, Lucius found his ability to scheme impaired. He would just have to go in there and hope Draco saw the truth. Saw that despite all that had been said and done in the past, that Lucius really did love Scorpius.

The door to Draco's office was in sight now. Lucius felt his stomach turn and wondered if this really was the best way to re-establish contact with his family. He was considering turning around, when the door ahead opened, and Draco stepped out.

Lucius froze, his body gripped by an instinctual fear. No, he wasn't prepared to face Draco. It couldn't be allowed to happen like this.

Draco didn't see him. The younger Malfoy apeared to be lost in his own world; with a whimsical smile on his face he made his way to the bathrooms in the opposite direction without even noticing Lucius.

Lucius had to admit, it was painful to see Draco; so close, closer than he had been for well over two years, but still out of reach. Maybe it was for the best though. Lucius looked at the scroll in his hand; he was a wishful fool to think he could reconcile with Draco while being associated with this scroll. He still needed to delive it though, but that wouldn't be a problem. He should sneak into the office now, leave it on Draco's desk, and then leave.

After that he would quit. No more witch-hunts for defective genes. Maybe he could get Octavius to quit with him. Then he could contact Draco and fix everything. If nothing else, he could meet him at Daphne's wedding and reveal himself as a changed man.

He smiled to himself as he opened the door. Today wouldn't be his day, but soon. Soon he would have his family back. And he didn't care if they were all branded as Sourbloods; it was poetic justice really that he was now on the recieving end of blood status prejudes. As long as he got his family back, it would all be okay. He stepped into his son's office.

"That was fast Daddy."

Lucius felt the scroll slip out of his hand and onto the floor. In front of Draco's desk, another, smaller desk had been set up. Leaning next to this desk was a small backpack and acoustic guitar. Covering this area were a heard of small dinosaur toys and a muggle toy truck, all under the custodianship of a little four-year-old who looked just like Draco had at that age, except with deep brown eyes that never looked at anything.

"Daddy? The little boy asked "Is that you?"

This was not something Lucius had prepared for. He had been expecting Draco to be his first encouter with his estranged family; he had never imagined a situation like this.

"Hello there. You must be Scorpius" Lucius said, trying to sound friendly. Scorpius picked up his truck and hugged it close to his chest, head turned in the general direction of the door with a mildly worried look on his pale little face.

"I'm Scorpius Malfoy" He said "my Daddy will be back really really soon. Did you come to see him?"


	2. Yesterday

**Hi everyone. I'm back with another chapter of Sourblood. I would just like to thank everyone who reviewed the first chapter; It was a real boost reading your reviews, and I hope you continue to enjoy the story.**

**Also, if anyone reading this is visually impaired, or has worked with visually impaired children, (or children with a disability in general) and you notice I've written something unrealistic about Scorpius; _please_ point it out to me. Actually, if anyone notices any errors of any sort, please let me know.**

**By the way, who likes flashbacks? Oh um, no-one? Umm... sorry. I guess I can be pretty self-indulgent at times. Anyway, I hope this is an enjoyable chapter for most of you.**

**Chapter 2: Yesterday**

To fully understand what was going through Lucius Malfoy's head as he came face to face with his grandson, perhaps it would be a good idea to revist the events that caused Lucius to fall out with Draco in the first place.

After Aquila's death, it had taken Draco and Astoria a long time to truely recover. It therefore came as quite a shock to everyone when they announced that they were going to try and have another baby. Today, Lucius looks back on his reaction and realizes that maybe he didn't take it as well as he could have.

The news had been announced at a family dinner; at that time Narcissa had been alive and Belladonna had been able to stand the sight of Octavius, so only Daphne was abscent. Later on they would discover that she was out seeing her boyfriend Dennis Creevey, but that is a different story altogether.

After dinner, Lucius had taken Draco aside to voice his concerns in private.

"A one in four chance Draco." Lucius warned "They haven't discovered a way to identify the MMS gene yet. Are you sure you want to risk it? Do you want to lose another baby?"

"We can't spend our whole lives mourning Aquila Dad" Draco said "and if there is one thing we have learnt, it is that we really do want children."

"Draco you've gone through a lot of trauma in the past, do you think you could watch another baby die?"

"There is a much higher chance that our next child will not inherit the condition" Draco said "and even if we did get unlucky again, it isn't always fatal."

"Isn't always fatal? Draco is that really your only concern? Even if it doesn't kill, there are so many different defects that this can cause. What if your next child is born retarted and unable to move?"

"I'd love them anyway" Draco replied.

Once upon a time, Lucius would have been absolutly shocked to hear such a response from Draco. His son had never been the overtly caring sort, but Aquila had taught them all a valuable lesson. More than anything that had happened during the war, losing Aquila had made them all realise how precious family was, and none more so than Draco. After losing her he had stopped speaking to his loved ones formally, and had become much more open with expressing his emotions. Many people, after meeting Draco for the first time since school, could hardly believe he was the same person he had been back then.

Of course, Aquila had also changed Lucius. He must have changed, because before holding her he would have thought of Draco's response as a sign of weakness.

"I know you would but..., can you really look after a defective child? And what about your reputation? We are still seen as both war criminals and traitors. And there's a new term going around - Sourbloods - people with bad genes are not being looked upon very favourably. The Purebloods see it as a disgrace and the Blood Traitors are saying 'serves you right.' We're lucky no-one began talking about Aquila."

"Hang on," Draco said "this isn't about the health of my future children, this is about your reputation."

"Our reputation!" Lucius said "and no, its not more important than the health of your children, but you still have to think about it. We've struggled over the past six years to break the association between Pureblood and Death Eater, but we won't be any better off if Pureblood becomes associated with genetic deformaties."

"Blood purity and reputation, is that still what's most important to you?" Draco asked "the Malfoy family has been Pureblood for generations, and we've played the reputation game. But guess what Dad? It didn't go well for us."

"I know that, but we still _are_ Purebloods" Lucius said "people still have certain preconceptions."

"I don't care anymore" Draco said "we suffered during the war, and I don't want it to be the end of our family. I want there to be a next generation of Malfoys, and I don't care if we all get branded Sourbloods, or Defectives or whatever dirty word they come up with."

Lucius hadn't been able to refute Draco's argument that night, but he still stood firmly against the idea of his son having another potentially defective child. Octavius and Belladonna were likewise opposed, and even Daphne asked her sister if it really was right to risk bringing a child into the world that could suffer from it's disabilities.

Narcissa however was thrilled at the idea and supported Draco and Astoria all the way.

"It's only a one in four chance" she had explained to him one night as they lay in bed "one chance in four."

"But there is still a high chance that such a child would carry the gene" Lucius said "then the problem would just emerge in the next generation."

"The child could always marry a Mudblood" Narcissa said "not much chance of them carrying the gene."

Lucius shuddered at the thought of any grandchild of his marrying a Mudblood. He no longer went around championing blood purity, but tolarance had to draw a line somewhere. He would later soften his views after meeting Dennis and realizing that he 'wasn't a bad fellow', but he could never be fully comfortable with someone of muggle decent marrying into _his_family.

"I don't think its worth the risk" Lucius said "maybe all these genetic problems are a sign that the day of the Pureblood is over."

"We can't let it destroy us."

"Maybe before losing the war I would have thought that. Maybe before Aquila I would have still thought it. But if I have to hold another beautiful granddaughter and be told she won't survive the week... no, nothing is worth that!"

Narcissa rolled over so her back was to him, and when she spoke again her voice had a slight quiver to it.

"But Lucius, what if we get to hold a granddaughter and then babysit her. And buy her presents, and dress her up, and teach her. We could take her to the park, and the beach, take her to see Paris. Isn't it worth the risk, if we can have a living breathing grandchild?"

"What if we have a living breathing grandchild that will never recognise us? That will never say 'I love you' , will never get to learn magic, never fly a broom, and then die before even reaching Hogwarts age?"

"Lucius don't say that!" She flipped over to glare at him "what do we have now? No reputation, no pride, nothing! And Draco has grown up and has his own life... what else can we have Lucius? We don't have a big social life anymore, we don't have anything we used to have. I just want a grandchild so badly. And I know you do too. Then our lives will have meaning again!"

Now it was Lucius' turn to roll over and sigh. No he didn't have the life he had enjoyed before the war, and yes a grandchild would make him so happy.

"But I'm not that selfish" he said "I don't want to see a child suffer just because I wanted to play families again."

"Well its not your choice anyway."

Indeed, it wasn't Lucius's choice. Three months later, Astoria and Draco had another dinner party to announce to everyone that they were expecting.

It had been a tense time for Draco and Lucius' relationship, but Lucius had been determined to make the best of it. As he watched Astoria's bump grow, he began to feel an attachment forming with this unborn child. Then on September First, Scorpius was born and pronounced healthy, and Lucius cried tears of relief.

The first few months of Scorpius' life were amongst the happiest times Lucius could remember. He and Narcissa went to visit Draco and his young family every chance they got, and Lucius was amazed at how different it was to watch a child grow without the pressure of serving the Dark Lord.

It was also the first time he had seen Narcissa truely happy since the war. And also the last. It was Narcissa who first noticed that something was wrong with Scorpius.

"I told Astoria that he never looks at me" Narcissa told him one day.

She had been helping Astoria watch Scorpius while Blaise Zabini came around on a housecall to do some maintanace on her mechanical arm.

"She said he doesn't look at anyone, but she never thought it was a problem" Narcissa continued "anyway that creepy Zabini man got out one of his screwdrivers, waved it back and forth in front of Scorpius' face... and nothing! You'd think he would have followed it or something... but it was like he didn't even see it."

"Maybe he just didn't want to look at Zabini" Lucius chuckled "I wouldn't."

Jokes aside though, after that Lucius began to notice Scorpius' lack of eye contact more and more. By now the kid should have been tracking objects at the very least. Other things that Lucius had noticed before were now beginging to take on more signifigance. Like how Scorpius never got over-activly excited when someone he knew walked into the room, yet if he heard anyone speak he got quiet and looked happy. Or how he never reached out to pick up toys that were just out of his reach. Or how he just wanted to be held all the time, yet always acted suprised when he was picked up.

Narcissa got more and more worried, and sometimes cried after their visits.

"Something is wrong with little Scorpius" she said, hugging Lucius one day "there's something wrong."

"I know" Lucius said "but his still a beautiful little boy."

"I should have listened to you" She said "I should have talked them out of it."

"It's alright. Scorpius will be fine; their taking him to see a healer tomorrow."

"I shouldn't have let them do it. It's all my fault!"

"It's not your fault. And don't worry, they'll find a way to fix him."

The next day Draco dropped around looking more lost than Lucius had seen him since after the Battle of Hogwarts.

"His blind" Draco told them "And they can't fix it; it was MMS. It got the part at the back of the brain; the part that controls his sight. They didn't pick it up before because it was in a pretty small area... but he had it."

"Is there anything else damaged?" Lucius asked "aren't there usually multiple problems?"

"No" Draco said, a smile appearing on his lips "it was only in that one area, his perfectly healthy otherwise. It's a miracle."

"A miracle?" Narcissa said "a miracle that he is _only _blind? His blind Draco!"

"I know" Draco said "but it could have been worse. Could have been much worse. We can manage this. Somehow."

"We'll figure something out" Lucius said "where is he now? And Astoria?"

"Their at home" Draco said "I just wanted to talk to you both alone... I really have no idea what to do. The healer didn't have any suggestions either. It's as if they don't want to even think about problems they can't cure. What should I do?"

Draco stayed with his parents for a while. Soon Astoria arrived with Scorpius, and Draco hugged his son and told everyone that he still didn't know what to do.

"I wrote to Blaise" Astoria said "he reads a lot about muggle medical practices, and I thought he might know something about how muggles deal with blindness."

"Oh Merlin, help from muggles" Narcissa said "what is this family coming to?"

As it turned out, Blaise Zabini didn't know what muggles did with their blind children, but he did know about some muggle organisations that dealt with the vision impaired. He gave Astoria the addresses of the ones he knew, and then off she went out into muggle London. The next time Lucius visited the family, Astoria and Draco had a table full of books and pamphlets on raising blind children.

"You wouldn't believe how much we take for granted having sight" Draco told him "his a smart boy; he knows that being in the high chair means food, but there is so much that he isn't getting. Like, he doesn't see the jar, doesn't see that I'm holding the spoon... so how is he supposed to figure out whats happening around him? There is just so much we take for granted."

Lucius thought about this. He tried to imagine what it would be like being blind right now. He could hear Draco talking, he could hear Astoria changing Scorpius in the next room. No, he could hear Scorpius crying, Astoria's voice, and the sounds of something being... wrapped up? If he had the knowledge of a five-month-old baby, how would he ever be able to decipher that?

"Vision really is easy to take for granted" Lucius agreed.

"Yes" Draco said "apparently eighty percent of all we learn is from vision."

"Eighty percent?" Lucius said "how... Scorpius won't be able to keep up with the other children!"

"He'll be able to keep up" Draco said "we just have to find more ways to bring all that information to his other senses." Draco picked up one of the muggle books "good thing Astoria got all this information when she did. There are so many fascinating methods these muggles have come up with. I've been having fun trying them all out. Not to mention its all a good bonding experience."

"Yes I see... so none of the books mention a cure?"

"No cure" Draco said "the muggles aren't any better at repairing this type of brain damage than we are."

"That's too bad" Lucius said "oh Merlin, eighty percent."

"Scorpius will be fine. By the way, is Mum alright? I haven't seen her in a while."

"Oh she's just a bit down, she'll be back to normal soon."

However, Narcissa didn't get back to normal anytime soon. Word had started to get out that the Malfoy family had produced a Sourblood, and Narcissa - who still found it hard to deal with the way people talked about her family being Death Eaters - hid away when people also started talking about her seemingly spoiled blood.

Lucius found the whole experience a bit confronting at first. One day he met up with a co-worker of his - an ancient woman named Isodora Selwyn - in Knocturn Alley, and the two of them bumped into Astoria, who was out shopping with Scorpius.

"You sure do talk to him a lot" Madam Selwyn said after noticing how Astoria told Scorpius everything that was going on around him.

"His blind" Astoria explained "so talking about what's going on around him is a great way to help him develop. Isn't that right Scorp? Oh, what have you got there? That's your dummy, and if you keep waving your arms around like that you'll drop it over the edge of your pram. It'll fall onto the ground and you won't be able to reach it."

"Blind?" Madam Selwyn asked "I hope you don't mind me asking, but is it genetic?"

"Yes" Astoria said "my husband and I both carry the gene."

"Oh you poor dears. Still, I guess that's the price we pay for our purity. My grandson and his wife had a erm, unviable child, so they thought it might be a good idea to freashen their blood; paid some muggle whore good money to have his child. You know, you and your husband must be really kind-hearted people to actually raise your little Sourblood."

"Yes, we are kind-hearted" Astoria said "that's how parents are supposed to be. Come on Scorpius. Let's get away from the mean old smelly lady and go visit Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. You remember the fireworks they let off? And all those really fun sounds and smells? Bye Lucius."

Lucius found his interactions with Madam Selwyn somewhat cold after that encounter. However she was one of the nicer encouters he had. Other people – from extream Purebloods to Muggleborns persecuted during the war, and seemingly everyone in between – found Scorpius' condition as either a disgrace or a fair punishment for a family that had placed such an emphasis on the superiority of their blood.

The most frustrating event for Lucius occured one night when he took Narcissa to a nice little restaurant in Diagon Alley, only to discover Arthur and Molly Weasley out enjoying their anniversary. During desert, Weasley came over to their table.

"Hello Arthur" Lucius said "I haven't seen you around in a while."

"No, I haven't seen you around much either Lucius. I hear things of course."

"You do?"

"Yes, I do. Congratulations both of you on becoming grandparents."

"Thank you" Narcissa said.

"The first grandchild is always extra special."

"Scorpius is our second" Lucius said.

"Oh, well still, congratulations again. Oh by the way..." a mischievous grin crept onto Weasley's face "how is the whole 'we have superior blood' thing working out for you two?"

"Shut up Arthur" Lucius said.

"Let's go Lucius" Narcissa said.

"But Cissy..."

"I want to go home. Please let's go home."

For Narcissa, the taunts were worse. Her circle of friends gradually shrunk, and she soon stopped going out altogether. Lucius knew his wife was getting more and more depressed, but he had no idea what to do. She had been his rock during both wars, but now when it was her that was weakening he found himself unable to repay her strength. The last time she left the house was for Scorpius' first birthday. It was a small but happy occasion, with family and friends gathered at Elle's Ice Creamary - the spiritual successor to Florean Fortesque's.

By now Scorpius was growing into quite a curious little fellow. He reached out with his hands constantly, as if looking for exciting new things to discover. Scorpius had friends too; a few other handicapped children whose families Draco and Astoria had met through support groups, as well as the young daughters of Gregory Goyle and – wonders never cease - his astonishingly beautiful wife. Scorpius was also beginging to crawl very well, and like any child with basic mobility, he was able to get into plenty of mischief.

"See Cissy" Lucius said as they watched Scorpius build blocks with a very cute little Goyle girl "Scorpius is coming along well. It doesn't matter what they say."

"His only just started crawling" she said "he should have been crawling two months ago."

"The important thing is he is crawling now" Lucius said "soon he will be causing Draco as much trouble as Draco caused us. I should have listened to you before."

"No, I should have listened to you" Narcissa said.

"Cissy..."

"What type of future can he have Lucius? His going to end up just like the Mudbloods. Except he won't be able to fight back."

"The world isn't like that anymore."

"It is to people like us. They call me a Sourblood Lucius. I don't even have the gene and I'm a Sourblood!"

"Gar gram-ma" Scorpius had turned his ear towards them and was waving his hands at them.

"Shush Cissy, he can hear us" Lucius said, before instinctively waving back to Scorpius while calling his name.

"You want your _favourite_ grandparents don't you?" Narcissa said, her voice suddenly filled with happiness "come on, let's see these blocks."

Narcissa went over to where her grandson was and played with him and his friends. She laughed and seemed very happy.

The next day she was dead.

Lucius woke up to an empty bed, and when he went to investigate found her in one of the guest bedrooms with a bottle of empty poison and a long suicide note next to her.

He read the note many times, but he still couldn't understand why she had killed herself. No matter how hard he tried, Lucius couldn't make sense of his wife's death. For some time afterwards, his life was a blur. Looking back, he could bearly remember her funeral, despite giving what he was told was a beautiful eulogy. He lived the first weeks of his live as a widower in a constant daze.

His first clear memory after Narcissa's death was a visit to Draco's family two months later. He hadn't visited the family since Narcissa's funeral, and at the moment still found it hard to feel happy again even around his loved ones.

He sat on the couch and supervised Scorpius going crazy on a set of bongos some inconsiderate person had gotten him for his birthday. Lucius wished Scorpius would stop making such a racquet, but everytime he did, Draco started singing from the kitchen, which was anything but an improvement.

Scorpius would listen to his distant father's song and smile, and once reasured that his father was around, Scorpius would happily go back to his bongos. One time however Scorpius didn't go back to playing, but instead started calling out quietly - in the excact same tuneless dirge that Draco was "singing" in.

"Oh no, you aren't going to start singing like your Daddy are you?" Lucius asked his grandson. Scorpius turned his ear towards Lucius, and quietened down his "singing" to a mere whisper.

"Come on, come over here and Grandfather Malfoy will give you a nurse."

Scorpius giggled and began to walk on unsteady legs towards Lucius. He seemed to have a good idea about generally where Lucius was, but it was still necessary for Grandfather Malfoy to encourage him when he fell over or started to go off course. Once Scorpius reached him, Lucius gently touched his hands; "up we go" he said, and then picked up his grandson and sat him on his lap.

"You can stop singing now Draco" Lucius called towards the voice in the kitchen "I'm talking to him."

"Oh, it sounded like he was having fun out there" Draco called back.

"We still are having fun" Lucius said "aren't we Scorpius? You have lots of fun with Grandfather Malfoy don't you?"

In a display of fun, Scorpius clapped his hands together, laughed, and resumed his singing.

"See?" Draco stuck his head in the doorway "I tell you, his going to be really musical."

"His had tone-deaf ancestors for as far back as anyone can remember" Lucius said "he has a lot going against him."

"Don't listen to Grandfather Malfoy Scorp" Draco said "his just jealous because he can't sing."

"I'm certainly not jealous of your Daddy's singing" Lucius said.

"Nah, don't listen to him Scorpius. His jealous."

"Dada! Ha!" Scorpius said.

"Ah, your a real card" Draco said "Well dinner will be ready soon" and with that Draco went back into the kitchen to tend to his cooking.

"Your Daddy is making dinner Scorpius" Lucius said "can you smell it? Mmmm... smells like lamb. Your Grandmother Malfoy always cooked too. She didn't trust the House Elves with her family dinners."

"Gram-ma.?"

"Yes, Grandmother Malfoy was a very good cook. That dinner your Daddy is cooking smells like one of her favourite recipies."

Lucius felt that familiar veil of despair cover him again. Was Draco cooking one of his mother's signature dishes to honor her? It was a nice gesture, but Lucius just didn't feel like being reminded of her right now.

"Oh did you hear that?" He said to his grandson as he heard some sort of cooking utensil fall to the ground in the kitchen "I think your Daddy just dropped something in there."

"Oh-oh!"

"Yup, oh-oh. But it can't be too important. Oh, hear that? Sounds like Daddy is getting something out of the oven."

"Ven."

"Have your parents ever shown you how everything works in the kitchen?" Lucius asked "Your Daddy gets all the food out of the icebox... the really cold box."

"Brrrr" Scorpius added.

"You are a real character aren't you?" Lucius asked "You lovable little thing."

"Gehehe!"

"You know your Grandmother loved you a lot" Lucius said "she really did."

"Garm."

"Yes, Grandmother Malfoy. We'll all miss her a lot. She loved you little one, but she just couldn't deal with how everyone else treated her. First after the war, and then when you came along... Oh if only you'd been a normal child, this would never have happened."

Lucius heard what sounded like a muffled gasp, and turned around to see Astoria standing behind him with a look of horror on her face.

"Astoria" he said "I... I didn't know you were there."

"I was watching you and Scorpius" She explained "You... you were so cute together... but... I... Lucius I know it must be hard what happened with Narcissa..."

"Dinner's ready!" Draco called out.

"Dindin!" Scorpius said.

"Let's go to the dining room shall we?" Astoria said. They joined Draco in the dinning room, where he was helping the house-elves set up the table. Astoria seemed a bit cold towards her father-in-law for the rest of the night, but nothing more was said of the matter.

Looking back, Lucius wished she had said more. He wished Astoria had gotten angry, and he had apologised, then broken down and explained how much he missed Narcissa...

Anything would have been better than letting that 'normal child' comment snowball out of control.

It didn't help that around this time Octavius and Belladonna started to drift apart, and determined to make his family respectable again, Octavius had found a healer who claimed to have a method for fixing brain cells damaged by Magical Misfiring Syndrome. Draco and Astoria went to check out the healer, but Draco seemed far from convinced when he next spoke to Lucius about it.

"He examined Scorpius and talked a lot about all the ways the procedure could help him" Draco told his father over a cup of tea at the Ministry Café, "but he was really vague about the risks. We pretty much had to drag that information out of him."

"What are the risks?" Lucius asked.

"A forty percent mortality rate" Draco said "and a twenty percent chance of surviving with no improvement… he assured me that the chance of Scorpius getting worse brain damage was insignificant… but who the hell would take that kind of risk anyway?"

"Well, do the risks outweigh a life of never being able to see?" Lucius said "Scorpius' quality of life is seriously affected by his condition; his chances to succeed are limited, and he may not be able to function in wizarding society. Maybe it would be worth taking the risk to give him a better life?"

Draco looked as if he had been physically slapped. Then his mouth dropped open and he shook his head in disbelief.

"I… I… Merlin Dad, I just don't know where to start with that" Draco said "how… how can you say that? How can you even consider risking the life of a member of your own family? We lost Aquila, we lost Mum… I'm not losing Scorpius too!"

"Your mother would have wanted you to take this chance Draco" Lucius said "There aren't many opportunities for disabled people in our world, and think about all he his missing out on being blind."

"His not disabled his handicapped" Draco said "and with the right training and specialized equipment, blindness can become more of an inconvenience than a disability. And for Merlin's sake Dad we're wizards! Why can't we, with all our magic, create more opportunities for the disabled?"

"Our focus should be on curing these disabilities" Lucius said "He'll never see your face, never see a rainbow… how will he read Draco? How is he going to walk down the street? No I don't want to lose Scorpius, but I want to see him lead the best life possible. As his father you should take any chance you can to give him the _best_ in life!"

Draco stood up and peered down at Lucius with sadness in his eyes. "I _am_ giving Scorpius the best in life. He will have every opportunity to do whatever he wants in his life, and none of that will involve risking his life with risky, experimental brain surgery."

"So you'll condemn him to a life in the dark?"

"If there was a sure, safe cure I'd give it to him in a heartbeat" Draco said "but barring that, he'll _have _a life!" And with that Draco walked away.

After that argument, Lucius found his relationship with Draco and Astoria strained to it's limit. They never left him alone with Scorpius, and would get defensive if he brought up any problems a blind wizard would encounted. It didn't help that once Belladonna had had enough of Octavius, he came to live with Lucius, and then enlisted Lucius' help in finding more healers with many claims but few qualifications. This went on for a few months, but the final straw came that March when Lucius decided that Draco had truly lost his mind.

"You're doing _what_ with the house?" Lucius asked his son on what would turn out to be his last visit.

"We're going to renovate the ballroom and most of the downstairs area. Convert it into a recreation and educational centre for families with disabled and handicapped children" Draco explained.

"You're doing what?"

"We're starting a charity" Draco said "We've decided to convert a part of the house to help other parents raising a child with a disability. We're going to call it Aquila House."

"You'll convert the house?" Lucius said "into a place for families with disabled children… why?"

"We're lucky" Draco said "We got access to muggle information on how to handle blindness, we know Blaise, who is working on some gadgets to help Scorpius as he gets older, and we have enough money to pay for anything Scorpius might need to become fully independent. Other people don't get that stuff. Not only that, but a lot of children are being born that won't be able to achieve independence. They need constant care and help, yet even very skilled witches and wizards can't find ways to help their children. Magic should be able to help, but a lot of parents just have no idea where to start. Astoria and I were shocked sensless when we discovered Scorpius' blindness, imagine a family with – "

Lucius drowned Draco out and then looked around the ballroom. Draco's house had once been Lucius and Narcissa's holiday home, which they had given to Draco and Astoria as a wedding presant. Narcissa had truly loved the ballroom; they had decorated it with countless colour variations over the years, and had had some of the best dances of their lives here. This room held many dear memories for Lucius, but now it was completely bare. He and Draco stood in the middle of a stripped room, with Scorpius waddling around pulling a wooden train behind him.

It broke Lucius' heart to see Narcissa's beloved ballroom like this.

"Your mother loved this ballroom" Lucius said.

"Really?" Draco asked "I thought she hated dancing."

"She liked dancing here, with just the two of us."

"Oh. Well we hardly ever come in here that much. I'm sure she'll be happy that it's going to be used again."

"No Draco, she wouldn't" Lucius said "she would have been happy if you and Astoria used this room; she wouldn't approve of you turning it into a senctuary for defectives!"

"Defectives?" Draco said "is that all those children are to you? Is that all Scorpius is to you?"

"I didn't say that Draco! All I'm saying is that these other families - "

"Some of these other families have become my close friends" Draco said "Like the Merrywheathers and the Andersons... they are parents who like me, just want to give their children the best lives they can have."

"What do you expect to do Draco? You aren't a healer!"

"No I'm not a healer, I can't make all these conditions go away. But I _can_ offer them a place to unwind and let their children play without having to worry about accessability issues. Or about bullying. Plus I can get them in contact with healers, and other useful people like Blaise. How can you say Mum wouldn't have wanted me to help these families? These _Pureblood_families need I remind you."

"Draco, I know you still feel guilty over what happened in the war. But you don't have to take on the world's problems. It isn't your problem if people have disabled children, they should take care of their own burdens. You worry about doing the best for your family."

"Taking care of my family" Draco said "so I should be like the other families and just take care of my own _burden_. Is that what Scorpius is, our burden?"

"I didn't mean it like that Draco."

"Grand-fa Maffy?" Scorpius had stopped playing with his train and had approached the adults. The boy sure was a sharp kid.

"Up we go Scorpius" Draco said, picking up his son and turning to his father.

"Draco take him away" Lucius said "we shouldn't put him in the middle of this."

"He is in the middle of this Father" Draco said "ever since we announced we wanted another baby, you've been against having a handicapped grandchild. You obviously care more about 'fixing' him at whatever cost, rather than giving him the best possible life with the hand his been dealt. Is that all he is to you, a burden? Well I'm sorry our great pure blood isn't quite as perfect as we once thought. But you know what, I don't care what nasty genes Astoria and I carry, because we have a beautiful, funny, perfect little boy, and I am _not_ going to let anyone bring him down. Including you! Get out of here."

"What?"

"Go. Get out of my house… get out of my _life_! I've tried to understand your thinking, I've tried to ignore it, I've tried to make it less of an issue... but I can't keep going on like this. Scorpius doesn't need your influence, and you obviously don't want a burden like him."

At that moment Scorpius started crying, and then Draco appeared to be on the verge of joining him.

"Draco I – "

"Get out of here!"

And so Lucius left. And had never been back. That was the last time Lucius had seen his grandson.

But now here he was. Scorpius had grown so much since that terrible day, but he was still Scorpius.

"So Mister, did you want to see my Daddy?" Scorpius repeated.

"I might come back and see him later" Lucius said.

"Okay. Oh, you dropped something. To your left."

Lucius looked to his left and noticed the scroll he had dropped upon seeing Scorpius. The scroll that could only make things worse between him and Draco.

"Oh I did too" Lucius said as he picked it up and put it in his pocket "Did you hear it fall? You have such good ears."

"Yup. Mummy says I have the best ears ever."

"Best ears ever?" Lucius said "that's quite a claim."

"It's true but. I can't see, but I listen really good."

"I see. So where is your Mummy anyway? Shouldn't you be home with her instead of going to work with Daddy?"

"Normally I am" Scorpius said "except on days she works, when we get looked after by Mrs. Merrywheather or Aunt Daphne. But she had to take Paulie to the healer, so I get to go to work with Daddy."

"Paulie? Whose Paulie?"

"His my baby brother!"

"WHAT?"

Lucius looked down at his little grandson. A baby brother? Impossible! He would have heard _something_ about that.

"Yup. We all call him Paulie, but his full name is Paullus Blaise Narcissus Malfoy. I only got one middle name, but at least I don't have to share it with anyone else. His not even a year old yet. But I'm four years old."

"You really do have a brother?" Lucius asked

"Yup" Scorpius said "I'll show you." Scorpius went around to the other side of Draco's desk, got on his chair, and started feeling around. Soon he found the photo frames, and turned them all around so Lucius could look.

"I don't know which one has Paulie in them. But there's one of both of us at the hospital when he was born."

"I see it" Lucius said, leaning forward to look at a framed picture of Scorpius holding a newborn baby with dark hair.

"When Paulie was born, Mummy and Daddy said I could only hold him if I was really really careful, but I'm always careful so it was alright. I get to hold Paulie and help out with him a lot. He feels all soft and warm, but sometimes his smelly so that's not very good."

"Babies do get smelly" Lucius agreed. Scorpius started rambling on about all the things he does to help his parents and brother, but Lucius found himself too numb to take it all in. He remembered a snippet from his conversation with Octavius earlier; _"She just says that I'm missing out on important things - _"

Important things. Important things such as a third grandchild? How could no-one have told him or Octavius about this Paullus Blaise Narcissus Malfoy?

"People say Scorpius and Paullus are weird names" Scorpius said "but I like our names. Scorpius means scorpion, and Paullus Malfoy sounds kinda like Paul McCartney!"

"Paul who?" Lucius asked.

"Paul McCartney. He used to play with a band called The Beatles, and they were the best band ever! Uncle Dennis told me all about them."

"Really? So, I'm assuming he was in a muggle band?"

"Yup. His a muggle. Do you want to hear me play one of their songs on my guitar?"

"Sure why not?" Lucius said, taking the only available adult sized seat he could find while Scorpius grabbed his small guitar and sat on his little seat. Lucius wasn't sure what to expect from a four-year-old guitarist playing muggle music, but it didn't take long for Lucius to realise that Draco had been right; the kid was musical. Not perfect; not even terribly good, but he could carry a tune and hit the right notes on his thin nylon strings.

_"Yesterday._

_All my troubles seemed so far away._

_Now it looks as if thier here to stay._

_Oh I believe,_

_In yes-ter-day._

_Suddenly,_

_I'm not half the man I used to be - "_

Yesterday.

It wasn't all Lucius had anymore.

Here he was with Scorpius, and there was another grandson out there.

"Hey Scorp why is the door… what are _you_ doing here?"

Too late, Lucius remembered why he was here in the first place. Now he was face to face with his son, and didn't know what to say.

What could he possibly say to make Draco forgive him?


	3. Maffy

**Hello again everyone, I'm back. Thanks again to everyone who has reviewed this story... I live off story reviews lol. **

**A short chapter this time, but now the long awaited confrontation between Draco and Lucius is here. Enjoy**

**Chapter 3: Maffy**

"You... you were right" Lucius heard himself say as he withered under Draco's glare "he is really musical."

"This man wanted to see you Daddy" Scorpius said "I was showing him my guitar."

"Did you ask for his name Scorp?" Draco said.

"Oh-oh!" Scorpius said "I was too busy talking."

"It's okay Scorp" Draco said "but you have to be careful with strangers."

"I'm sorry. But Daddy you said the room was protected and that the people you worked with you were nice and would help me. And he seems nice, he liked my guitar and we talked about you and Mummy and Paulie -"

"You told him about Paulie?"

"But you tell everyone about me and Paulie all the time. I'm sorry Daddy."

"No Scorp, it's alright" Draco bent down and hugged his son, who was on the verge of tears "It's my fault, I shouldn't have let this man come and see you. It's good that your proud of your little brother, you can talk to him as much as you want. Now why don't you go play with your dinosaurs? Didn't they have to be somewhere important?"

Scorpius gasped and ran back to his toys, leaving Draco holding his little guitar.

"Mack" Scorpius called out "come here Mack!" and much to Lucius' surprise, the seemingly ordinary toy truck drove itself to Scorpius' feet. Next second Scorpius was on the floor, identifying his dinosaurs by feel and walking them to Mack.

"Everyone get in Mack" Scorpius said "The Beetles are playing at Hogwarts! We don't want to be late."

"You get all those Dinosaurs to Hogwarts Scorp" Draco said "I'm just going to take our guest outside for a talk."

"Okay Daddy" Scorpius said.

Wordlessly, Lucius allowed Draco to lead him out of the office. They got to the door, and -

"Hey Mister" Scorpius said "what is your name anyway?"

"My name is Lucius Malfoy" Lucius said, before Draco could object.

"Wow you have the same last name as my family" Scorpius said "_no-one _else shares our last name."

"Of course I have your last name" Lucius said, trying to ignore the obvious disapproval on Draco's face "I'm your grandfather."

"Don't" Draco hissed.

"Really?" Scorpius asked "Nah, you can't be, right Daddy?"

"Actually Scorpius" Draco said "he is your Grandfather... but that doesn't make him part of the family."

"Why not?" Scorpius said "I've always wanted a granddaddy! Are you really my granddaddy Mr. Malfoy?"

"Of course I'm your granddaddy" Lucius said "you used to call me Grand-fa Maffy, because you couldn't say Grandfather Malfoy back then."

"But I don't remember ever having a Grandfa Maffy" Scorpius said "Why haven't you been around Maffy?"

"It's complicated" Lucius said, trying to simultaneously work out both a better explanation for his absence and whether or not he could live with being referred to as 'Maffy'. Whilst it was the most ridiculous thing he could imagine being called, something about the way Scorpius said it made Lucius feel like he was now fully included in his life again. Plus the boy sounded absolutely _adorable _when he said it.

"Daddy said I didn't have a Granddaddy" Scorpius said.

Now it was Lucius' turn to give Draco the Malfoy Glare. Draco had the good grace to look shameful. Draco sighed and went down to his little son's side again.

"Scorpius, a long time ago you did have a Granddaddy, but I didn't think he wanted to be your Granddaddy anymore. I didn't want you to worry about it, so I told you that you didn't have one."

"I've always wanted to be your Granddaddy Scorpius" Lucius said "I've missed you a lot while I've been gone."

"So it was a misunderstanding?" Scorpius asked "Daddy you didn't like... _disown_ Maffy did you?"

Scorpius said disown as if it was a very scary concept for him. Lucius remembered when Draco was five, and an older cousin on the Greengrass side of the family had scared him with talk of being disowned if his parents stopped liking him. It had been quite a common fear for young Pureblood children back in the old days, and Lucius wondered where Scorpius had picked up on such a notion.

Draco looked uneasy and stuttered a bit as he tried to come up with an answer for his son. There was a sadistic part of Lucius that wanted to see Draco try and come up with a reason why it was okay to disown parents but not children, but such a conversation he knew would not help this situation.

"It was just a misunderstanding Scorpius" Lucius said "and now Maffy's here to make it all better. Daddy and I are just going to go outside and talk and then I can come back, and then maybe you can play your guitar for me again."

"Yay! Hear that Daddy? Maffy is going to fix it all up!"

"Maybe he will" Draco said, eyeing his father suspiciously.

"Awesome!" Scorpius said, picking up a flying dinosaur and landing it in the truck "It's going to be so totally awesome! But Maffy, how did you get misunderstood?"

"I, wasn't really as nice as I could have been" Lucius said "And Daddy thought that meant I well, didn't like you. Even though I do."

"But how were you not as nice as you should have been?"

"I'll tell you after I've fixed it" Lucius said, praying that once he was back in Scorpius' life he would never have to explain himself to him.

"Come on" Draco said, almost pushing his father out the door.

Lucius couldn't read Draco's expression, and he couldn't think of anything intelligible to say to him. Draco gently closed the door and then glared at him. Lucius quickly looked around, wondering if Runcorn did have someone stationed nearby to report back on what was about to happen.

"Why were you visiting Scorpius?" Draco asked "he doesn't need your influence in his life."

"I.. I... I'm sorry" Lucius said "I didn't know he was there... but, it was nice to see him again. I've missed him."

"Have you really?" Draco said, sounding skeptical "is it really Scorpius you miss?"

"I've missed you as well. And Astoria. But its... it's hurt not seeing Scorpius."

Draco continued to look at Lucius as if he was some kind of puzzling bug.

"I know I said some things that didn't sound too good." Lucius said "And things that were just plain wrong. I'm sorry Draco. I, I've been wanting an excuse to talk to you for ages. Please, let me back into Scorpius' life."

"You don't have to pretend" Draco said "Scorp said you were talking about Paulie."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Lucius asked "and furthermore, why wasn't I told about you having another son? My comments weren't bad enough to warrant losing another grandchild were they? And Octavius would want to know - "

"Shut up!" Draco said "do you think I'm stupid? Who told you about Paulie?"

"What are you talking about? Scorpius told me about Paulie just now."

"Yeah, sure. You happened to drop into my office on the one day I brought Scorp in with me, at the same time I was in the lavatory, and he just brings up his little brother?"

"Why would I lie about that? Seriously Draco it makes no sense."

"Just get out of here! I'm not falling for it."

This time, Lucius didn't leave. He had left Draco and Scorpius once before, and had regretted it ever since.

"Draco, I miss Scorpius" Lucius said "I just got to spend almost five minutes with him, and it was the best five minutes I've had in years. And, and I'm a bit shocked to find out about Paulie, but I want to be a part of his life too. And I won't make the same mistakes as I did with Scorpius."

"What do you mean by the same mistakes?"

"I could never see pass Scorpius' disability; I just couldn't accept him. But it won't be like that again. I actually noticed his well, his personality much more than I noticed his blindness back there. I can accept Scorpius the way he is, and whatever is wrong with Paulie, I'll accept that too."

In the excitement of meeting Scorpius again, Lucius had actually forgotten that his family were Sourbloods. It hadn't occurred to him to wonder whether or not Paulie was affected by MMS. If Paulie was affected and even worse off than Scorpius, then Lucius could understand why Draco was getting so defensive. He thought about Astoria taking him to the healer, and decided that he would help his family any way he could.

Draco considered his father for a while. Lucius could almost see his son's brain coming up with some cunning plan.

"How did you know Paulie has MMS?" Draco asked.

"Scorpius said Astoria has taken him to the healer" Lucius explained "His not in too bad a way is he?"

Draco smiled. Or rather he smirked; it was a smirk Lucius had not seen on his son's face since his teenage years. Unlike all those smirks though, this one quickly formed itself into a little reluctant smile.

"Paulie will be alright" Draco said "You really didn't know about him before you came here did you?"

"I didn't even know you had Scorpius with you" Lucius said "this whole day has been full of surprises; Paulie the biggest."

"And, you meant what you said about Scorp? You're ready to accept him for who he is?"

"Every word" Lucius said "I have regretted not having any contact with him every day."

"I ... I thought he was just a burden to you."

"I'm sure we can manage whatever challenges the boys face. Why don't we arrange an outing? Me, you, Astoria, the boys, -"

"No" Draco said.

Lucius felt his stomach sink. So close, he thought he'd finally showed Draco the grandfather he could be. What more could he do to?

"I would like to see you interact with Scorp before you get to see Paulie" Draco said.

Lucius' spirit was risen again. He was being given a second chance. Now he could make things right with Draco and Scorpius.

"Yes that sounds reasonable" Lucius said "I'd love to get to know Scorpius again. His grown so much since I last saw him."

"There is one, no two conditions though" Draco said.

"I'll do anything" Lucius said, aware of the begging tone in his voice but not caring.

"First of all, don't ask about Paulie."

"But, but... fine. Not a word."

"This is about Scorp" Draco went on "if you can show that you really love him, then you can be a grandfather to Paulie too."

"I understand."

"And secondly...,"

"Yes?"

"Not a word to Octavius about Paulie. You can tell him anything you want about Scorp, but neither Astoria nor me want him to know about Paulie."

"Draco he deserves to know!"

"If he wants to be in his grandson's lives, he can take it up with Astoria. But if he doesn't even care about the grandson he knows about why should we tell him about Paulie?"

"He does care about Scorpius." Lucius said "his just, a bit obsessed."

"Not a word to him, alright Dad?"

"Alright. Not a word."

"Okay. What time do you have lunch?"

"In about an hour-and-a-half, why?"

"We'll meet you in the Ministry Cafe. We can sit down for a nice family lunch."

"That sounds good."

"Alright. I'll see you then."

"Yes... mind if I say good-bye to Scorpius before I go?"

"Yes, of course... _Maffy._"

"That sounded much nicer when Scorpius said it" Lucius said "though I am starting to rethink if that's really what I want to be called."

"I think it's great" Draco said "much more fun than Grandfather Malfoy."

"I'm going to be Maffy for the rest of my life aren't I?"

"Of course."

Lucius opened the door and said good-bye to Scorpius. The little boy really did not want his new Maffy to go so soon, but once Draco explained that they would all be having lunch together the little tyke became overly excited.

"I'll see you two at lunch" Lucius said "goodbye Draco, and goodbye Scorp."

"Bye-bye Maffy" Scorpius said "I can't wait for lunch!"

"Me either!"

Lucius left Draco's office feeling happier than he had in years. It was only when he exited the elevator that he realized that the scroll was still in his pocket.

He couldn't go back and give it to Draco now, not if it could make Draco change his mind about lunch. All he could do was leave it in his pocket and try not to dwell on it. He tried as hard as he could to forget about it as he made his way back to his office. Once there he picked up his work and tried to immerse himself in it. Soon however both his work and the scroll were forgotten as he found himself telling Octavius about his encounter with Draco and Scorpius.

He told his cousin every detail he could remember - except of course he made no mention of Paulie. He did feel guilty not telling Octavius about his other grandson; especially as he saw that look of longing that stayed on his cousin's face as he described Scorpius playing with his toys.

"So he calls you Maffy?" Octavius asked.

"Yes, Maffy" Lucius said "I guess I'll be stuck with that for a long time."

"Do you find it pathetic that I am actually jealous of you getting a silly name from Scorpius?"

"Maybe... no, I can understand that."

"Hmm... he used to call me Grand-fa Grengass" Octavius said "perhaps I should insist on a more proper name."

"That would probably be for the best" Lucius agreed.

"He sounds like a real card" Octavius said "His blindness hasn't slowed him down too much?"

"It doesn't appear to have" Lucius said.

"Hmm... well I guess you'll be able to know for sure when you go out for lunch" Octavius said.

"Yes" Lucius said "lunch with my boys... I haven't felt so nervous since I went on my first date with Narcissa."

"You'll do fine" Octavius said "Draco... no offense, but his become a big bleeding heart. He won't stay mad at you."

"I hope so" Lucius said "Maybe if things go well you should try and talk to Astoria again. Scorpius was thrilled to find out he had one grandfather, imagine when he finds out he has two."

"I've tried talking to Astoria" Octavius said "but, she just doesn't want to try anything to help poor Scorpius. She gets angry at me for trying to help; It's like I get my head bitten off every time I try and speak to her. I don't know what to do Lucius. I just don't know."

Lucius wondered if Draco and Astoria did have a point in keeping Octavius in the dark about Paulie. Sure it was cruel, but how would Octavius go about trying to fix two handicapped children?

"Octavius" Lucius said "If Draco and Astoria found a cure that they felt was safe, then Scorpius would have perfect vision. However that is highly unlikely to happen, so I think the best we can do is just accept our grandson the way he is."

"I'm not giving up on him!" Octavius said.

"We don't have to give up" Lucius said "We... we... I guess what I'm trying to say, and what Draco and Astoria have been trying to tell us all along, is that we can accept Scorpius as a person without giving up on a cure. And we don't have to focus on his disability, there is more to him than just being blind."

"Lucius..." Octavius said, his fat face scrunched up as if it was taking a lot of effort to comprehend and reply "Lucius, I... you know, you sound like some of the confused bleeding hearts during the war. I guess that shouldn't surprise me, you were in deep, and what they did to Draco... but Lucius, you're losing your principles. Now me, I still take some pride in my bloodline. It hurts me to see Daphne marry a Muggleborn, but I... well that's not the point. The point is, I know my grandson is a good kid. I really do! But he is _not_ an inferior being, and I'm not going to accept anything that makes him appear to be so. There is a cure out there, and Scorpius will be a proper wizard!"

"Was Aquila an inferior being, Octavius?"

Lucius knew instantly that he had gone too far. There was only so far you could get someone heavily indoctrinated to reason beyond their beliefs without upsetting them - he knew that from his own painful experiences - but apart from that, he had said something truly cruel to Octavius.

"I _loved _that little girl more than I love life itself" Octavius said.

"I know, I'm sorry. I loved her too."

"I now. Anyway Lucius, I have some work to do, and you'll be wanting to get as much out of the way before lunch. I'll leave you to it."

"Yes, I'll leave you to it as well" Lucius said, focusing his attention back to the ancient family tree spread out in front of him.

Despite the silence, he could not concentrate. His thoughts restlessly shifted, from Draco, to Scorpius, and poor Octavius too. Always though, they came back to the scroll. The scroll in his pocket, that he would eventually have to show Draco.

Even if he quit his job now, Lucius knew he would still show his son the scroll. Draco needed to know what he was up against.


	4. At the Ministry Cafe

**Hello everyone, miss me? **

**Once again, thank you to everyone who reviewed. I've had a great time writing this story, and your words of encouragment and feedback have helped me along. Hope you all enjoy these final two chapters.**

**Chapter 4: At the Ministry Cafe**

When Lunch time came around, Lucius got up from his desk with a mixture of hope, excitement, and dread brewing in his gut. Octavius wished him luck on his way out, and Lucius tried to tell himself that he wouldn't need it. He was normally a very confident man, but as he walked to the Cafe he felt anything but. He tried to tell himself that he had no reason to doubt himself - after all, he had already re-established contact with Draco and Scorp, wasn't that the hardest part out of the way?

Then again, the last time the stakes had been so high for him was during the Battle of Hogwarts, and before that during his mission in the Department of Mysteries.

He couldn't screw up this time.

He got into a crowded elevator heading up to the first floor. He stared dead ahead at the doors, waiting for them to open. He wondered if he had time to stop by at the Gift Shop or the Workers Store and grab a little something for Scorpius? No, that might not be a good idea. He owed the boy two years worth of Christmas and birthday presents, not a small bribe.

He got out with the crowd and headed towards Break Alley. Branching off from the main foyer was a circular street that deterred Ministry Employers from leaving the underground facility en masse to walk to Diagon Alley and other Wizarding Alleys, or worse still, trying to find Lunch in Muggle London. The only actual shops here were the Gift Shop, Worker's store, and a medical store/clinic for Ministry Employees, but the place was packed with cafes and restaurants. Here one could find almost anything for lunch.

The oldest of these employee eateries was simply called _The Ministry Cafe, _and it had once been Lucius's favourite place to eat. The only problem was that it was also Draco's favourite place for lunch. After their argument, Lucius had gotten sick of seeing Draco in there every day; eating at a nearby table, but never acknowledging him. It had been painful, and Lucius had decided that Cafe Breman was a much better place for lunch.

Now he was back in his old Cafe, at his old table. The waitress was some new girl who didn't recognise him. But otherwise everything was unchanged. Lucius was hit with nostalgia and memories of a much happier time.

Draco and Scorpius were no-where in sight.

Lucius' first thought was that he was being stood up. Logic however washed away his fears; he did get here pretty quick, and Draco had to get a little kid ready. Guiding a small blind child through the Ministry would probably make them late. It was therefore a surprise for Lucius when his smiling grandson arrived before his tea.

"Maffy, where are you?" Scorpius called out, bursting through the cafe doors with a white cane held out in front of him and his father right behind him. All the patrons currently in the cafe looked at Scorpius, most not happy with a noisy kid coming to have lunch with them.

"Scorpius use your indoors voice" Draco said "people are trying to eat in peace."

"Oops, sorry everyone."

"Over here Scorpius" Lucius called back, only a few decibels louder than his own indoors voice.

"Go on Scorp" Draco said "his right in the corner to your left. There are two tables between him and you, so be careful."

"Okay Daddy" Scorpius said, taking off towards Lucius with the same energy as any other four-year-old. He didn't run, but Lucius had a feeling that might have more to do with being indoors than being blind. Lucius held his breath as Scorpius went past the first table, but it didn't give the little guy any problems at all. Scorpius seemed to be a master at using his cane to navigate.

"Maffy?" Scorpius asked once he was in the corner next to Lucius' table.

"Right here" Lucius said, patting the seat opposite him with a soft thumping noise "come sit with me."

"Okay Maffy" Scorpius said, folding up his cane and hooking it onto his belt before claiming the offered seat. Now Draco was also at the table, which stretched itself and conjured up another chair to accommodate him.

"Hullo again Dad" Draco said with a smile.

"Hullo again. Glad you didn't change your mind Draco" Lucius said.

"Of course I didn't" Draco said "Scorp would have chucked a fit."

"No I wouldn't, I'm a good boy" Scorpius said "you said so."

"I said most of the time you're a good boy" Draco said.

"Nah, I'm always good."

Draco grinned and rubbed Scorpius' hair, rolling his eyes at Lucius.

"I remember you saying that to me once" Lucius said "but when I reminded you that you'd had a massive tantrum just that morning you got very sulky."

"Thankfully Scorp's tantrums are few and far between" Draco said "well, at least they have been lately."

"That's because I'm a good boy, and I don't chuck fits" Scorpius said.

"Well you stick to your story" Draco said, patting his son on the shoulder before turning to Lucius "I'm dreading when the whole sibling rivalry thing starts."

"Nah" Scorpius said "all the Goyle sisters fight but that's because they're girls. Me and Paulie are boys so we'll be alright."

"Let's hope so" Lucius said "anyway, what have you been up to today little man?"

"I've been helping Daddy at work!" Scorpius said.

"Yes" Draco agreed "helping."

"Daddy's trying to stop a bad law from getting passed" Scorpius said "and I made sure all his memos were put away."

"Yes" Draco said "he put all my incoming memos in my bottom draw. The one I never use."

"And they didn't fly off" Scorpius said.

"No they didn't" Draco said "they didn't go _anywhere_."

"So you were with Daddy all day long?" Lucius asked.

"Yup" Scorpius said. Lucius wondered if that was a hint of boredom he detected in his grandson's response.

"Did you like being with Daddy all day?"

"Yeah, Daddy is cool. But he has to work really hard."

"You didn't want to spend the day at the Day Care with the other children?"

"Daddy said I couldn't go" Scorpius pouted.

"You couldn't?" Lucius asked "have you ever been to Day Care before?"

"We have Day Care at home" Scorpius explained.

"Genevieve Merrywhether and Astoria run the Day Care at Aquila House" Draco explained "but they were both out today. I've never brought Scorp here before, and the Day Care isn't really equipped to meet his needs."

"What would they need for him?" Lucius said.

"For the four-to-fives room, not much" Draco said "But I would have needed to show him around before the other children arrived."

"So I can get my bear rings!" Scorpius said.

"Yeah, his bearings" Draco said "but with the Day Care having to close for the day on short notice I couldn't even get here in time, let alone before other parents arrived."

Draco closed his eyes and rubbed his temples, and Lucius found it pretty easy to imagine the chaos that must have unfolded for Draco this morning. He also felt uneasy knowing that Paulie had to be rushed off to a Healer so suddenly, and wished he could ask about that.

"Anyway, I've heard from other families that the Lady who runs the Day Care doesn't accept disabled children unless the parents pay for an aide."

"I see" Lucius said "I didn't think the Ministry employed any qualified aides."

"They don't" Draco said "an 'aide' is an assistant eager to make some extra pocket money. Quite a bit of extra pocket money I should say."

"How do they get away with that?" Lucius asked.

"Apparently, any family with enough Pureblood to produce a disabled child must be loaded."

"Not all the old Pureblood families were rich" Lucius said "and a lot certainly aren't after the war."

"People still have certain preconceptions about us Purebloods" Draco said.

"Don't other families have disabled children?" Scorpius asked "apart from Purebloods?"

"They do sometimes Scorp" Draco said "muggle families have disabled children a lot. I'll have to take you to one of the muggle platforms at King's Cross some day; they put little bumps near the edge of the station so blind people don't fall onto the tracks."

"Yeah, Uncle Blaise took me to see those when he minded me" Scorpius said "their pretty cool. What about other wizard families. The mixed families. Do they have disabled children?"

"Not very often" Draco said "most disabilities that they do have can be cured by magic, it's just the ones caused by MMS that can't be fixed."

"And only Purebloods can have MMS?"

"Purebloods are more likely to have MMS" Draco said "remember what I told you about genetics?"

"A bit" Scorpius said "well, not too much."

"Don't worry Scorp" Draco said "just because you're Pureblood and blind, it doesn't make you any different from the other children."

"I know" Scorpius said "but why don't any of the other children like me?"

"That's silly, lots of people like you." Draco said.

"The other kids call me names."

"What other kids?"

"The ones in the park the other day."

"Don't worry about them Scorpius" Lucius said "they just don't know any better."

"Yes" Draco agreed "you know Scorp, Maffy and I used to be like those kids. We were both really mean to children with muggle parents when we went to Hogwarts."

"Why?" Scorpius asked.

"Because we didn't know any better" Draco said "they were different; I didn't even imagine I could understand children from muggle families. They were strange and I just wanted to be around people I understood. In a way, I was afraid of the Muggleborn children."

"But why did you have to be mean to them?"

"Because, if I could get them upset and act like I was better than them, then they didn't seem scary anymore."

"But muggles aren't scary."

"Neither are little blind boys, but those bullies must have been scared of you, otherwise they wouldn't have had to tease you."

"That's silly Daddy" Scorpius said "you weren't scared of Muggleborn children when you went to school were you Maffy?"

"No I wasn't scared of them" Lucius said, turning Draco's words over in his head. Draco's words sounded convincing, but Lucius could never remember being intimidated by Muggleborns. For him putting them down had nothing to do with fear, but with a well structured belief in the value of wizarding blood. Though, if it was all logic, why couldn't he have just live and let live like he did now? Why did he have to go to war over his beliefs?

"I just, didn't understand them" Lucius finally said "It's hard to like something - or someone - who you don't understand."

"So the other kids are only mean because they don't understand me?" Scorpius said.

"That's right."

"So... so next time, I should try and be their friend. Because if we're friends, they'll understand me, and then no-one will tease me anymore!"

"I think that might be a bit too optimistic Scorp" Draco said "Some kids never learn."

"But why?"

"It's just the way some people are."

"But why?"

Draco was saved by the arrival of the waitress with their drinks. Lucius knew how Draco liked his tea, but for Scorpius he had made what he thought of as a safe bet by ordering the boy some chocolate milk.

"Chocolate milk for me?" Scorpius asked the waitress once she had given him his drink.

"Ya, chocolate milk for you cutie" she said, before taking their meal orders.

"Chocolate milk is my favourite!" Scorpius said once she was gone "thank you Maffy."

"That's alright. What other foods do you like Scorp?"

"I like Chocolate Frogs too, and I collect all the cards. And Pumpkin Cakes are nice... I don't like Every Flavoured Beans though. But I think my favourite food is Daddy's roast lamb."

"I wonder what little Scorpius could possibly want for dinner tonight" Draco said.

"Can we please have Roast Lamb for dinner tonight Daddy? Please?"

"We'll see" Draco said.

"Hey Scorp, do you know where your Daddy learned to cook that roast lamb?"

"From Grandmother Malfoy" Scorpius said "She died when I was really little. Hey, after you left before, Daddy told me that your were Grandmother Malfoy's husband."

"I sure am" Lucius said, feeling the now manageable tinge of loss that emerged when reminded of Narcissa.

"I heard that she was an even better cook than Daddy? Was she really?"

"She taught your Daddy how to cook... but I can't pick who was my favourite cook."

"What was she like?"

"She... she was an amazing person" Lucius said "it was because of her help that Harry Potter won the Battle of Hogwarts"

"The battle against Voldemort?"

"Please don't say his name"

"Mummy says no-one should be scared to say his name anymore. Did Grandmother Malfoy really help win the war?"

"She sure did. She was a very strong woman. She tricked The Dark Lord, and because of that Harry Potter was able to beat him."

"Wow!"

Lucius told Scorpius more stories about Narcissa, and was touched by how eager the little boy was to learn about her. It was not as emotionally draining as Lucius would have imagined it to be, but when their meals came and the subject changed Lucius was grateful; the loss still hurt.

Scorpius talked a lot about his friends, who mostly included children who went to Aquila's House. Lucius learned quite a lot about the charity that had triggered his disownment through Scorpius and Draco's explanations. It's main function was a day care centre run by Astoria - who Lucius did recall as having a teaching qualification, though she had never had to work before - and the mother of another child. They had one assistant, and employed and trained House Elves to help with day-to-day chores and look after some of the less independent children. The secondary function was - as Draco had told him two years ago - an information centre for the parents, where he helped them find information from the muggle world and connected them to healers and inventors who could help them.

"Of course there are some limits" Draco sighed "the Statute of Secrecy makes it impossible to talk directly with muggle professionals, and the Statute Against Muggle Exploitation in some cases forbids us using tools and resources set aside for muggles."

"Which is why I can't have a guide dog" Scorpius said.

"Your way too young for a guide dog anyway" Draco said "and with all the modifications Uncle Blaise has made to your cane why would you need one?"

"What about just a regular puppy?"

"No."

"But Daddy..."

"I'm not changing my mind. We aren't getting a puppy."

"Alright" Scorpius replied, in a tone that told Lucius that his efforts to get a puppy were not over.

Soon they were finished their meals, and Lucius was eager to make the last few minutes of his lunch break with Scorp and Draco count. Everything was going well, until Lucius noticed Draco looking over his shoulder with distaste.

"Draco?" Lucius asked.

"Your boss just walked through the door" Draco said.

Lucius turned around and found himself looking into Roland Runcorn's eyes. His boss ignored the waitress and walked towards the Malfoy's with the same smug grin Lucius had seen on his face early that morning.

"Ah Lucius" Runcorn said, taking a seat at their table without waiting for their permission "Is this your family? I'm not sure I've met everyone. Please you have to make introductions."

"We've met before, Mr. Runcorn" Draco said.

"Ah yes, Draco Malfoy. Our two departments have clashed a bit over the last few months. But what's with this tone? Come now, no need to take it personally."

"Sorry Mr. Runcorn, but I take any attempt to control my breeding personally."

"All my Department does his warn people who may be at risk" Runcorn said in his most oily voice, before shifting his gaze over to Scorpius "I can see you have ignored all such warnings."

Draco looked absolutely livid, and although Lucius knew what it felt like to want to hurt Runcorn, he didn't think such an outburst would be a good thing at the moment. Especially not when Scorpius was starting to look a bit scared.

"Well, I see you two know each other" Lucius said, taking his wand out of his cane and holding it under the table "but Rolly, I don't think you've met my Grandson Scorpius. Scorpius, this is Mr. Rolly. His my boss."

Lucius could appreciate that getting Runcorn angry was probably not the best course of action, but Draco seemed to be calming down, and Scorpius seemed more at ease too.

"Mr. Rolly?" Scorpius said "that sounds funny."

"My name," Runcorn said "his Roland Runcorn. Mr. Runcorn to you."

"Sorry Mr. Runcorn" Scorpius said.

"So you're Scorpius Malfoy" Runcorn said.

"Yes Mr. Runcorn."

"I've heard a lot about you. Draco Malfoy's blind son."

"That's me."

"You almost look normal. Almost."

"I think this conversation is over" Draco said.

"Now Mr. Malfoy, don't get too defensive. You did bring him out in public after all."

"Rolly, you are here with my family" Lucius said "if you know what's good for you, you will show them the utmost respect."

"That isn't a threat is it Lucius?"

"No, of course not. Just a little etiquette reminder."

"I can give you a little etiquette reminder too Lucius. Especially when it comes to addressing your superiors."

"Daddy says everyone is equal" Scorpius said "even though everyone has to follow a chain of command, the people with more power aren't 'heritantly better than everyone else, they just have Authority."

"Your Daddy seems to have a lot of funny ideas" Runcorn said.

"Funny ideas that were proven during the War" Draco said.

"Ah yes, you were a Death Eater too. You know Mr. Malfoy, you really are a strange man."

"I think I better get back to work now" Draco said "come on Scorpius, say good-bye to Maffy."

"Can we have lunch with Maffy again one day?" Scorpius asked.

"Maybe" Draco said.

Lucius felt his blood boil and tilted his wand so it was pointed at Runcorn's knee. Things had been going perfectly, but now slimy Rolly Runcorn was ruining it!

"Draco, maybe our next meeting should be away from work" Lucius said "I don't mind if it's just the three of us again."

"That sounds alright" Draco said "I'll send you an owl."

"I'll send you one too Maffy" Scorpius said.

"I can't wait to get read it."

Draco and Scorpius both got up, and Scorpius felt his way around the table until he found Lucius, and then hugged him. Lucius slipped his wand down his sleeve and hugged his grandson back. Some of the anger drained out of him; no matter what happened next, he had Scorpius' love.

"Oh, I hope I'm not intruding on a special moment... _Maffy_" Runcorn said "I'm glad your son took the news well."

"What news?" Draco asked.

Lucius released his grip on Scorpius and felt himself go pale. He had purposely driven the scroll out of his mind, hoping to show it to Draco without Scorpius around. It seemed that that decision was now going to be his undoing.

"Oh, Lucius didn't tell you?" Runcorn said "I sent him around to show you a little something our department has launched. It was the _only_ reason he went to visit you."

"What is it?" Draco asked Lucius.

"I didn't want to bring this out with Scorpius around" Lucius said, taking the scroll out of his pocket and handing it over "I'm really sorry about this Draco."

Draco opened the scroll and began reading it out aloud;

"We, the below signed, are against extremist Pureblood policies that force or encourage people to have potentially disabled children for the sake of continuing a blood line. We believe that the risks of intermarriage should be made known, and couples thought to carry unfavourable genes should be discouraged from having children."

Lucius looked down at the table as Draco read. He had never felt so ashamed to be associated with the Department of British Magical Genealogy.

"Furthermore, we believe that parents who do have children with the full knowledge that they carry genes that will result in a defective child (particularly couples with a family history of Foetal Brain Magical Misfiring Syndrome and other incurable genetic defects) should be held fully accountable for the suffering of their child. We also hope to see institutions which encourage Pureblood couples to have children 'whatever the cost' or that misrepresent information on disabled children; such as _The Pureblood Association, The Bole Foundation, _or..."

Draco took a deep breath and shot Lucius a disappointed look before continuing.

"...Or _Aquila House_... will be shut down and the money they have made be put to use finding a cure or preventative vaccine against said disorders."

There was a long silence when Draco finished reading. Lucius could see the disgust on his son's face as he read through the signatures. He also noticed a smug look on Runcorn's face.

"Does that mean Mr. Rolly wants to shut down Aquila House?" Scorpius asked "what's going to happen to the Day Care?"

"His not going to shut us down Scorp" Draco said "I won't let it happen."

"You'll notice Mr. Malfoy, that we have collected over a thousand signatures" Runcorn said.

"How could so many people sign this?"

"Why would anyone support an extremist Pureblood group like the Pureblood Association? And if you think people would support a so-called charity run by a man known to be a greedy extremist and Death Eater... well what do you expect people to think? Everyone saw through your ruse Mr. Malfoy, people can tell that your generosity is really just to help your own Sourblood son."

Scorpius burst into tears at the mention of the word Sourblood, while something within Draco snapped.

Lucius had been good at secretly casting jinxes under the Slytherin table during his school years, and that long forgotten skill served him well as he cast a temporary non-verbal immobilising spell at Draco. He only had a few seconds to act, and act he would. Draco was quite obviously about to add 'violent and unstable' to his already tarnished reputation.

Lucius hid his wand in his sleeve and stood up to face Runcorn. He took one more look at Scorpius face; he wondered if his grandson had looked that devastated when he was being bullied the other day. He had a feeling that 'Sourblood' was probably a word that had been used that day.

Seeing the tears run down Scorpius' face, Lucius realised just how much he hated that word.

"Draco get Scorpius out of here" Lucius said once he noticed his son regaining movement "Rolly and I need to have a little discussion about um... etiquette."

"Fine" Draco said "come on Scorp, we're going back to the office. Say good-bye to your Grandfather."

"Bye Maffy" Scorpius said between sobs.

"Good-bye boys" Lucius said, keeping his eyes fixed on Runcorn. The younger man didn't say anything, but he seemed quite chuffed as he watched Draco and Scorpius leave.

Runcorn was surveying the cafe. Lucius had already noted that there was only one other patron; an elderly witch happily chatting to the waitress. No-one would hear their conversation, they were both as free to speak their minds and be as politically incorrect as they wanted to be.

"Oh no need to look so angry Maffy" Runcorn said "you don't mind if I call you Maffy do you? Since you find it necessary to give me a nickname."

Lucius remained silent. Did Runcorn even notice Draco freezing? It had been so quick.

"Okay, I am sorry I made your grandson cry. I'm not a heartless bastard you know, I don't like making little kiddies cry. I really thought he would be tougher, being a Malfoy and all. But I guess his just another sign of the times; your blood really has weakened hasn't it old mate?"

Lucius still didn't give Runcorn an answer. He could remember Draco crying his eyes out multiple times as a little boy because other boys said he was sissy. And of course that look on poor Scorpius' face when this man called him a Sourblood.

"Oh alright, Lucius" Runcorn said "I admit I wanted to rub your nose in it today. You don't need to get this worked up though. I mean, come on, we're both from old respectable families, we both know the value of blood. I know it must have been embarrassing being with the poor kid, but I _did_ say you had better start showing me some proper respect. Now can you please stop looking at me like that Lucius. Lucius?"

"CONFRINGO!"

Runcorn had no chance to react as Lucius' blasting cures sent him flying against the wall with a squeal of pain. Lucius fought back the urge to hurt Runcorn further, and calmly made his way to the shocked waitress.

"Sorry about that" Lucius said, handing her a large tip "He shouldn't be too badly hurt, but I'll tell the clinic about what happened when I go past. Anyway, the meal was delicious, thank-you. Have a good day."

He walked away from The Ministry Cafe with a smile on his face and a spring in his step. He never imagined that he would quit his job in such a dramatic way, and if he could get just one more hug from Scorpius, it would be the perfect end to his time in the Department of British Magical Genealogy.

**:Later that day:**

Assaulting his boss forced Lucius to endure a rather long day of paper work and a court summons before he was finally fired and allowed to clear out his office. By the time he got to his office Octavius had already knocked off and headed home to his London Penthouse, and the rest of the department was empty.

There was no reason to expect Draco to stay back working so late, but Lucius made his way to the Department of Disability Assistance just in case.

He was not disappointed.

Scorpius, along with his toys and little guitar, were gone. Draco however was still behind his desk, with an exhausted air about him that lifted as soon as Lucius walked through the door.

"Hullo again Dad" He said "I didn't think you'd still be around. Astoria came around earlier to take Scorp home, but I'll be here for a bit longer."

"Ah I see" Lucius said "more work on the Child Restriction Decree?"

"Mostly. But it's also this petition. I've been trying to think of ways to change the public opinion. Astoria and the Goyles are going to start getting some flyers made, and I'll, I don't know. I'm working on that."

"It's hard to change people's minds. I'm sure as more kids like Scorpius start getting around people might realise these nothing to worry about. Funny, he may have been a bit right about his plan to handle the bullies, even if it is a bit unrealistic the way he put it."

"I hope so" Draco said, sighing and pushing his work to the side "Anyway take a seat. I'm glad you came around. I thought I seemed a bit angry when I left."

"Of course you were angry" Lucius said "I'm sorry about Runcorn, I've been rubbing him the wrong way for months and he wanted to lash out at me. I'm also sorry I was working there for so long. The information we gather has been used in a lot of scare campaigns, and I, I knew you wouldn't approve, but... I couldn't bring myself to quit. "

"It's alright" Draco said "I heard about Runcorn being sent off to St. Mungo's. Thanks for that Dad."

"Anytime" Lucius said "I was considering just walking out with you, but when Scorpius burst into tears I knew that wasn't going to happen."

"Again, thanks. And I don't mean just for blasting him, I mean for freezing me too."

"I don't think Runcorn even noticed you were frozen" Lucius said "so glad I'm not losing my touch. Just hope I'm not a bad influence on Scorpius."

"Nah... well maybe a little. But a bad influence in a good way I guess. He really liked spending time with you today."

"It was amazing to see him again Draco. Simply amazing. I can't believe how much his grown."

"Sometimes it feels like his growing too much. He goes through clothes so fast. Blaise is certain he'll be taller than me one day. Anyway, Astoria and I were talking before."

"Ahhh... how did she take the news?"

"She's still a bit sceptical, but Scorp and I convinced her to give you another chance. Are you doing anything on Friday night?"

"Friday... no I'm not doing anything."

"Would you like to come around for dinner? Scorpius will be thrilled, and you can meet Paulie too."

Lucius had already had many emotional highs today, but this was the highest. He felt a small tear escape his eye, and tried to discreetly wipe it away.

"I would love to. What time?"

"Six sound alright?"

"That's perfect. ...I'm sorry I haven't been there Draco"

"I'm sorry I sent you away"

"I'm sorry I made you think you had to"

On the other side of the desk, Draco was also trying to keep his composure. Lucius hoped that his own facade wasn't as close to collapse as his son's. Lucius had never liked it when grown men cried.

"So how was Paulie anyway?" Lucius asked "is he going to be alright?"

Draco looked away from Lucius and took a set of deep breaths. Lucius could feel panic threaten this happy emotional high he was on. He remembered Aquila's face as he saw her for the last time. Oh Please God, not another one. Please don't let another child of Draco's die as an innocent baby.

"Paulie had a stomach bug last night" Draco explained "so we gave him a potion, he seemed to get better, but then this morning he started to react really badly. His all better now, but the healer told Astoria that he has a pretty bad allergy to gurdyroot. We'll have to be very picky with the medicines we give him, but he'll be fine."

"So..." Lucius paused for a while, trying to reconcile this information with his worse fears "so, it wasn't an MMS related problem?"

"No" Draco said, his face as hard as stone "Paulie doesn't have any MMS problems. We had him checked after he was born, and no-one could find any brain damage. He didn't inherit the MMS gene."

Lucius slumped back in his chair and let out a huge sigh of relief. He wouldn't lose Paulie.

"Draco you scared me. That's, that's great. You have no idea how relieved I am right now. Why did you make me think he had MMS? And what's with that face? To look at you you'd think it was a bad thing that your baby was healthy."

"I am so glad Paulie is healthy" Draco said "it was a huge relief for Astoria and Me. But Dad, I knew you and Octavius would find out about him sooner or later. And... and I love both my boys very much."

"What are you getting at Draco?"

"Belladonna loves both of the boys and would do anything for either of them, but even so I can tell that she takes a lot more pride in Paulie. And I knew that with you it would be worse. I don't care that Paulie will be able to see and Scorp won't, I'll treat them both the same. I love them both!"

"Were you worried that I would actually neglect Scorp in favour of Paulie?"

"Of course I'm worried! You never wanted a handicapped grandchild, and I knew that if you found out you had a healthy able-bodied one you'd be all over him. Paulie is the grandson you always wanted. Not Scorp."

"Draco I... that's absurd!" Lucius said. However he had to wonder if Draco had a point. If he had found out he had another grandson before today how would he have reacted? And if he knew this new grandson was MMS free? He knew that Octavius would have been thrilled; and would have held Paulie up to the world as a sign that his great pure blood was not completely spoiled.

Lucius wondered if he could honestly say he wouldn't have reacted the same way. He wouldn't have meant to neglect Scorpius, but would he have noticed that that was what he was doing? Was he still likely to act that way? His line had finally produced a non-damaged 'proper' wizard; a milestone for any Pureblood family, and would certainly help his reputation.

But how much did his reputation and purity really matter now? He remembered how it felt to be hugged by Scorpius, and remembered the muggle song he had played on his little guitar. Lucius decided that from now on, his family would just have to come before reputation and purity. It was the only way he would be able to keep them.

"Dad, Scorp really loves his little brother" Draco said "Greg said that none of his daughters have shown as much devotion to a new baby as Scorp does with Paulie. They have a really special relationship, and if you do make Paulie the favourite and treat Scorp as second rate, then you'll poison that relationship. Not to mention you'll ruin Scop's confidence and spoil Paulie."

"Dad, I need your word on this. I need to know that if I let you back into my family, that you won't treat my sons any differently. Please Dad, tell me you'll be a good grandfather to both of them."

"You have my word Draco. I won't make the same mistakes as before. Don't cry Draco, it will be alright."

"You're crying too Dad, stop trying to hide it."

"I know" Lucius said "I'm sorry."

Lucius reached across the desk to grab a tissue, and then as he dubbed his eyes he found himself getting up and walking around to the other side of Draco's desk. Draco also got up, and the two of them met in the middle, and Lucius did something that he had rarely done since Draco reached adulthood.

He hugged his son.

When was the last time he had hugged Draco? It would have been the day Draco found out that Scorpius was blind. And the time before that was after Aquila died. And before that it was after the Battle of Hogwarts. Lucius wasn't much of a hugging person, but now he hugged Draco as if his life depended on it.

"I'm sorry Draco" Lucius said as when they finally broke apart.

"I'm sorry too Dad."

They raided the tissue box and wiped away their spent tears. Lucius soon found himself gazing at the picture of Scorpius and Paulie as a content smile found its way onto his face.

"I suppose I better head home" Lucius said "I'll see you on Friday."

"At six o'clock sharp" Draco said "be there on time or Scorp will chuck a fit."

"I won't keep him waiting. Good-bye Draco."

"Good-bye Dad."

Lucius made his way to the door and was about to head off for the elevator when -

"Dad?"

"Yes Draco?"

"Thank you" he said "Thank you for everything."


	5. Family and Friends

**Epilogue: Family and Friends**

It was a beautiful day for an outdoor wedding. Lucius had been apprehensive about the wedding being held at the Creevey Farm, but the countryside was picturesque and the ban on magic didn't detract from the day at all. Even Octavius seemed happy, as Lucius had seen him drinking and talking with some of Dennis' muggle relatives at the bottom of the driveway.

"Hey Maffy" Scorp said, pulling at his hand just in case Lucius needed more reasons to pay attention to his grandson "now that we're here, can I please have the rings now? You sid I could have them when we got here and I can't be ring bearer without them."

"Not yet Scorp" Lucius said "we've still got to wait for everyone to arrive first. Don't worry, you'll get the rings before the wedding."

"But when is the wedding going to be?"

"We still have about an hour Scorp" Draco said, taking his hand off of the noisy pram to check his watch "plenty of time for you to play with the other kids."

"But I don't know any of the other kids here" Scorpius said "what if they're mean to me?"

"Don't worry Scorp" Draco said "if they're mean you just get your cane to lead you to me, alright?"

"Alright" Scorp said "But not Mummy, because she's busy with the bride party right?"

"That's right, busy with the bridal party."

"So I should find you. Or Maffy."

"Oh yes, you can find Maffy now" Draco said "would you be alright if he comes and finds you Dad?"

"Of course" Lucius asked, gently touching the small bracelet around his wrist. The bracelet and cane system was one of Blaise Zabini's most impressive innovations in Lucius' opinion. All Scorpius had to do was tell his cane who he wanted to find, and with a simple homing spell the cane would lead him to that person's bracelet. It was simple, effective, and the magic involved was not obviously noticeable to muggles.

Today was the first time Lucius had ever worn a tracking bracelet. It had been three months since Lucius had met Scorpius, and despite all the healing that had happened in that time a small amount of distrust lingering within Draco and Astoria. Astoria in particularly had been reluctant to accept him back into the family. For most of his time back with the family, he had been given few chances to be with his grandson's unsupervised, and despite pleas from himself and Scorp, Draco hadn't gotten a bracelet made for him until earlier this week.

"But don't worry about the other kids" Draco said to his son "I'm sure they'll be nice; and if you do have troubles just remember that Mrs. Merryweather will be there. As well as Sandy and the Goyles."

Having a children's playgroup before the wedding was a last minute decision, and although Draco didn't know it, it had been Lucius' idea.

For three months Lucius had been worrying that Draco was being a bit too overprotective with Scorp. Draco did not seem to find anything wrong with Scorp being around mostly handicapped children, but Lucius wanted Scorp to meet as many different children as he could before going to Hogwarts. Lucius had restricted which children could become Draco's friends long ago, and was now realising how much damage that had done. Whilst he wasn't really in a position to criticize Draco's parenting, once Lucius realised just how many children would be at this wedding he knew he had to force the issue.

Of course Daphne did not notice his motives when he put the suggestion to her; she was just thrilled that her guests would be able to socialise without a swarm of children underfoot. Later that day though, Astoria had come up to Lucius and thanked him. She didn't explain why she thanked him. She didn't have to.

Things were healing well.

"Alrighty Scorp we're almost at the house" Draco said "Oh, and there's another family already at the door ahead of us. They have a baby in a pram and a little boy who looks like his your age."

"You could make a new friend today Scorp" Lucius said.

"I already have friends but."

"You can never have too many friends" Draco said "and you better snap out of this sulky mood. Anyway this boy seems nice, his smiling and jumping around, oh Merlin it's the Weasleys. What are they doing here?"

"Daphne said Dennis was a member of Dumbledore's Army" Lucius said "The DA members all still keep in contact and go to each other's weddings and other such affairs. Which Weasleys are these?"

"Ron and Hermione Weasley" Draco said "the ones from my year at Hogwarts."

"Ah perfect" Lucius said "Scorpius your father is right. Now why don't you go and make a new friend?"

"I don't want to."

"Remember what you said to me the first day we met? About how you were going to befriend everyone so they would understand you?"

"That was just the bullies though" Scorp said "and you and Daddy said it wouldn't work."

"Not the way you were going to do it" Lucius said "but it can work. You just need to make the first move. Think of it as a pre-emptive strike. You'll befriend him and he'll understand you before he can become a bully and call you names."

"Really?"

"Really really."

"Awesome! So where are they?"

"Straight ahead. Just follow the path, and remember it's steep. And there are two steps at the veranda, so be careful. There are the two parents, a pram, and looks like Mrs. Creevey is there too."

"Thank Maffy, I'll be very careful."

"Wait no Scorp!" Draco said.

"Don't worry keep going" Lucius said

"Don't worry Daddy, I'm careful all the time!" And with that Scorp ran towards the house in a way that did not look very careful, yelling an enthusiastic "hello let's be friends!" that caused everyone at the door to look.

"Dad!" Draco said "are you crazy? You just sent him off to play with the Weasley's kid!"

"Well his not sulky anymore. I don't see what's wrong with encouraging him to make new friends."

"But they hate me" Draco said "and what if their little boy teases Scorp?"

"What if he gets teased while his at Hogwarts Draco? Will you bring him home and allow him to only interact with children you trust? Will you personally hand-pick his friends?"

"Like you did for me?"

"You said I made a mistake in only letting you meet Pureblood children, yet you are doing the exact same thing to Scorp."

"Not for the same reasons."

"No. You're doing it for much worse reasons."

Lucius couldn't help but feel afraid as he watched Draco process those words. He disagreed with Draco on a lot of parenting issues, but he never brought them up for fear of straining their relationship. However he did have some responsibilities as a grandfather.

"Draco, Scorp is going to be bullied. We both know how bullies think. Now the only way you're going to spare him that is if you keep him at Aquila's House and separate him from the sighted world. If you do that, then you'll be creating all those problems people said that a blind wizard would have. His ready to face the big bad world. His as ready as any kid can ever be."

"You sound like Astoria" Draco said "except... somewhat scary. Alright."

"Alright?"

"I'll let him loose on the other kids. But if he gets hurt I'm holding you responsible."

"I'll gladly accept that responsibility."

"Waaahaaaa"

"Oh, someone's feeling left out" Draco said, reaching into the pram and pulling out his crying son for a hug. As soon as Paulie was out of the pram he settled down and tried to look at everything around him at once. He giggled and waved as soon as he saw Lucius. Lucius waved back and the tiny eleven-month-old got so excited that Draco almost had to put him back.

Lucius had fallen in love with Paulie the moment he saw him. Unlike Scorp, Paulie looked nothing like Draco or Lucius. He had his mother's brown eyes and black hair; shining dark hair that was beginning to go curly. However his facial features reminded Lucius a lot of Narcissa, and he was thrilled to see so much of her in his grandson.

"Dad can you please push the pram for me?" Draco asked "I don't know how muggle parents free up enough hands without magic."

"Of course" Lucius said, grabbing the pram and following Draco and Paulie to the front door.

"Go away" They heard as they got closer "I'm not a boy you dummy!"

"Rosie don't be mean!" Hermione Weasley said to a young girl dressed in a pretty blouse and black slacks with short bushy red hair.

"But he said I was a boy!" Rosie said, pointing angrily at Scorp.

"Well I told you you should have worn a dress. You look too much like a boy."

"I'm sorry" Scorp said "I'm sure you don't really look like a boy. I can't see so I don't know what you look like. I bet if I could see though, I'd think you looked like a pretty girl."

"Really?" Rosie said, he whole demeanour changing from murderous to shy little girl.

"Oh no you're a lady-killer already." Draco said "Now Hullo there. Here are some faces I haven't seen in a while. Mr and Mrs. Weasley. Mrs. Creevey."

"Malfoy" Ron Weasley said somewhat coldly "And your father. How have you two been?"

"Just peachy" Draco said.

"Congratulations on your case" Hermione said "It must have been quite a feat getting the Wizengamot to toss out those child control laws."

"Thank you" Draco said.

"Oh stop standing around out here" Mrs. Creevey said "Come on in. The kids are just getting settled down in the lounge room; right on your left as you come in. I better go and make sure Dennis is getting ready. See you all around."

She gave Draco a quick hug as she led the group into the hallway and then shuffled away.

"These are my boys" Draco said to the Weasleys "Scorpius and Paullus."

"But we all call him Paulie" Scorp added.

Hearing his name, Paulie turned around to look first at Scorp and then at the rest of the adults.

"Are you absolutely sure that one is your son?" Mr. Weasley said pointing to Paulie "he looks nothing like you."

"Ron don't be rude!" Mrs. Weasley said "Sorry Malfoy. This is our daughter Rose, and this - " she reached into her pram and brought out a baby around Paulie's age with equally curious eyes and a big dummy in his mouth "Is Hugo."

"Hugo cries a lot" Rose added.

"So does Paulie" Scorpius added "Hey Daddy, does Paulie not look like you because you had an accident?"

"What do you mean Scorp" Draco said "what accident?"

"When Paulie was still in Mummy's belly, Mummy told Aunt Daphne that Paulie was an accident. But Maffy said that accidents usually happen because someone was careless. Daddy were you careless when you made Paulie?"

Lucius had been determined not to participate in this tense reunion, but when he saw how pink Draco's face because after that comment Lucius found himself letting out a very undignified snort before he could stop himself. He then locked eyes with the Weasleys, and they all both burst into laughter.

"What's so funny Dad?" Rose asked.

"Nothing you need to know Rosie" Mr. Weasley said "why don't you go and play with your new... friend."

"Good idea" Draco said "you know where everything is Scorp?"

"Yup" Scorp said, following his new friend into the lounge room.

"So you can't see anything at all?" Rose asked.

"Nope, not at all."

"How do you read?"

"I have books that talk, and I'm learning to read Braille, which is bumpy writing."

"There's never a dull moment when they're that age" Lucius said "it's a shame they grow up."

"It's happening way too quickly" Mrs. Weasley agreed.

"So how old are they?" Lucius asked.

"Rose has just turned four, and Hugo is fourteen months old" Mrs. Weasley said.

Lucius smirked as he quickly did the maths in his head. "Oh _goodie_, they'll be in the same years as Scorpius and Paullus in Hogwarts."

"Oh" Mr. Weasley said "goodie... right. You know Hermione, Fleur makes Beauxbatons seem like a really nice school."

"RON!"

"Alright, sorry. Just a joke."

Lucius expected Draco to make some witty comment, but realised that his son had other matters on his hands. Paulie was staring at Hugo intently and silently.

Paulie was only ever silent when he slept.

"Paulie?" Draco asked.

Without warning, both babies began screaming. Hugo spat his dummy at his mother's feet and howled, while Paulie's dainty face was as scrunched up as it could get. The kids in the lounge room stopped playing; some stared at the two babies, others covered up their ears or cried.

"Here hold him" Mrs. Weasley passed her son to her husband as she bent over to grab his dummy "I think his getting restless."

"This isn't restlessness" Weasley said "it's instinct!"

"Either way, take him for a walk."

"Alright. Good-bye Malfoys."

As soon as Hugo was out of the room Paulie started to quiet down a bit. Lucius was relieved that at least some things never changed.

"I'm sorry about that" Mrs. Weasley said.

"Don't be" Draco said "Paulie makes a big fuss over the littlest things."

"I meant about Ron."

"Oh."

"His good with grudges."

"I see."

Lucius felt a small amount of warmth around his wrist as his bracelet glowed. The next second Scorp was making his way towards Lucius calling out for his Maffy.

"Yes Scorp?" Lucius said once his grandson reached him.

"Maffy can I please have my guitar? Rosie wants to hear me play. Please come and listen to me play!"

"Alright" Lucius said, pulling Scorp's little guitar out from the prams undercarriage "what are you going to play today?"

"The Beatles" Scorp said.

"The Beatles?" Mrs. Weasley asked in shock.

"Dennis has been introducing him to a lot of muggle bands" Draco explained "The Beatles are Scorpius current favourite, but Dennis said that after the wedding he'll introduce him to a band called Rush that will apparently blow his mind."

The three adults followed Scorp into the children's area, then sat together on the lounge as Rosie began fussing over his guitar.

"A-ahaha!" Paulie said, clapping as he watched Scorp sling the guitar strap over his shoulder. Lucius was of the firm belief that Paulie was Scorp's biggest fan.

"Rosie said she wanted to learn piano" Mrs. Weasley said "we relented, got her a keyboard and a teacher, and now she doesn't touch it except during lessons."

"Scorp's the complete opposite" Draco said "he loves his guitar, plays it all the time. As far as his concerned the alphabet goes from A to G Sharp."

All the other children and adults in the room gathered around Scorp as he began to play the newest Beatles song he had mastered - a lively tune about how money cannot buy love - much to the delight of all present.

Later that day, Lucius sat and watched Scorpius walk down the aisle, holding the box that contained Dennis and Daphne's rings as if it were the most precious things in the world. Daphne placed a small kiss on his forehead as she took the rings from him.

The ceremony was beautiful, and the fact that he was surrounded by muggles didn't detract from it at all. He didn't quite cry when Muggleborn Dennis Creevey kissed his new Pureblood wife, but he felt a strange sort of inner peace emerge within him.

This was certainly a different world than the one he had lived in most of his life. But as long as he had his family, he did not care.

**THE END**

**Author's Note: Thanks again to everyone who read and reviewed this story. In response to some of my reviews, I'd like to add that I do have a lot of ideas for when Scorpius goes to Hogwarts, but at the moment am focusing on other things. Keep an eye out though, because at some stage I will get around to sending Scorpius (and maybe even Paulie) to Hogwarts.**


	6. To everyone following this story

Alert

Hi, just want to let everyone who enjoyed and followed this story know that I've started work on that much requested sequel; Scorpius Malfoy and the House of Gambaru.

Here's the link:

s/8307698/1/Scorpius_Malfoy_and_the_House_of_Gambaru

Or, if that acts a bit weird, a quick look through my profile should find it.

Enjoy.


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